{"id":8044,"date":"2019-11-25T04:27:09","date_gmt":"2019-11-25T04:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.linke.com.au\/TB\/?p=8044"},"modified":"2021-11-18T11:29:54","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T01:29:54","slug":"day-11-up-high-food-food-food-and-a-long-bridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.linke.com.au\/TB\/2019-new-york\/day-11-up-high-food-food-food-and-a-long-bridge\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 11: Up High, food, food, food and a long bridge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I lit out at 7.30am, Huck Finn style.  A back on my back, ready for a great\nadventure. It was going to be a long day. \nFirst stop was 50th<\/sup> St, the heart of the Rockefeller\nCentre.  I met Robert and we wandered the\narea, waiting for the doors to open to the Top of the Rock.  The things you see\u2026as we crossed 49th<\/sup>\nto look around a large crowd appeared in front of us with police escort, Robert\nspots Roger Federer.  It seems we\u2019ve\nwalked onto a mobile news\/sports set for NBC or TV commercial shooting. Policed\nusher us off the sidewalk as Federer reacts to a producer\u2019s call of \u201caction\u201d.  Federer runs away from us and the crowd\nquickly dissipates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We continue walking around and join the queue for our visit\nto the top.  Once the doors open at\n8.00am, we are quickly 872 feet, 67 stories above NYC. The view is\nspectacular.  The sun is shining and\nthere are a few whisky clouds on the horizon. The observation deck is almost\nempty, with not many people wanting to brave the sub zero temperatures this\nhigh at this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I stand and take in the view.  To the north Central Park, slowly but surely\nbeing obscured by the sky scrapers reaching for the sky.  I remember my first visit, a single building\nnear 59th<\/sup> St and 5th<\/sup> Ave obscured the bottom right hand\ncorner of the park. Now a number of so called pencil thin sky\u2019s scrapers pierce\nthe heights and interrupt the view of the park. \nIt is amazing to see how quickly the skyline changes and how the\narchitectural design of the city time stamps the buildings.  From the ornate smaller buildings of early 20th<\/sup>\ncentury design, to the blue glass sharp cornered precise designs of today.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the south, the Empire State Building, World Trade Centre and Statue of Liberty dominate downtown. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newest editions to the skyline are the blue glass towers\nat Hudson Yards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sun is gleaming over Jersey City, reflecting and\nbouncing off the glass buildings and the Hudson River. In the distance the\nHackensack River glistens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We wander around the entire viewing deck, Times Square is\neasily visible despite the bright sun, water tanks atop most buildings provide\na sense of security against fire and the bust streets below silently carry a\nstream of traffic in every direction. It is now that I remind Robert to take in\nthe peace and quiet. Below us some 11 million people are beginning their day.\nThe New York symphony is silent from this height. It\u2019s a welcome reprieve. We\ntake in the breath taking views for around an hour, before boarding the express\nlift down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the ground we grab coffee\/hot chocolate and head up town\nto the Apple Store. Robert is after a pair of headphones.  We walk the 8 blocks, grab the headphones and\nsend our way back to 44Th<\/sup> St. The 15 block walk takes an hour as we\nexplore sights along the way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We arrive back at our hotel, take a break, grab Mardi and\nhead off to Brooklyn. The day is young. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We catch the F train to Bergen St in Brooklyn and walk to\nStink, a cheese shop. We meet our guide, Shelli and the next part of our day\nstarts. A food tour hosted by Urban Adventures. We\u2019ve toured with them before\nand are looking forward to the experience. Robert is in for a treat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the next three hours we wander Brooklyn: Carroll Gardens,\nCobble Hill, Red Hook and Brooklyn Heights are all on our journey. During the\nthree hours we sample cookies, cheese, bagels, pita, pizza, beer, biscotti,\ncoffee and an egg cream.  Shelli our\nguide is fantastic. From the architectural history to food knowledge and some\ncool stories in between, the tour is a lot of fun. We also meet a lovely couple\nfrom England visiting New York for the week. We travel with them on the subway\nto York St. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The five of us then walk to DUMBO chatting and taking some\nphotos along the way. We part ways and we begin an epic walk: the Brooklyn\nBridge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We mount the steps to the bridge and begin our trek. A trek,\nnot because it\u2019s a great distance, but because the going is tough. It\u2019s just\nabout sunset and there are people everywhere. Selfie sticks, tripods, ignorant\npeople, cranky cyclists, prams and hawkers selling a variety of trinkets. The\ngoing is slow as we navigate our way. Something we are always aware of is being\npresent and respectful of people around us, even if this courtesy isn\u2019t\nreturned. New York is crowded and hard work sometimes, a little respect makes\nlife easier for everyone. So while we take photos, we move out of the way, we\nalways stick to the right and we don\u2019t walk in the bike lane. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sunset is spectacular, the views awe inspiring. We take\neverything in and enjoy the experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we exit the bridge the crowd thickens as day has turned\nto night.  We eventually make our way to\nCity Hall Park and walk to a caf\u00e9 for a break and drink. We sit in Caf\u00e9 Aroma\nfor an hour or so before heading home. We get back to our hotel and say\ngood-bye to Robert. He flies out tomorrow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve walked over 21,000 steps today and the three of us are exhausted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n